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Letter from Lowndes, day two

Marchers walk off the main road for a break while participating in a commemorative march of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March as part of the National Parks Service 50th Anniversary Walking Classroom outside of Selma, Ala., on Saturday, March 21, 2015. (Photo: Albert Cesare / Montgomery Adver)

"Later that morning, Tuesday, it began to rain, and the rain continued throughout most of the day," Renata Adler wrote in Letter from Selma, which was published in the New Yorker after she embedded with the 1965 marchers. "When the first drops fell, whites on the roadside cheered (a Southern adage states that 'a n***** won't stay out in the rain'),"

At this point in the text, Adler's experience of marching through the rain with civil rights activists couldn't contrast more with what we endured during our soggy march today.

As the rain started to fall, people acknowledged this detail of history that was repeating itself. Some resisted putting on raingear — a hat tip to their forefathers who had no such luxury when they walked. And whites driving down the highway did cheer, honking the horns of their trucks and raising a fist in solidarity with the marchers.

"Fifty years ago, something like that never would have happened on this highway," one of the marchers mused after being cheered on by a white man.

Despite the hate that onlookers spewed as the 1965 foot soldiers, Adler noted that their spirit could not be shook.

"But it soon became apparent that, even over hilly country, the procession was going at a more spirited pace than ever," she wrote. Again, history repeats itself.

Today we walked 12.9 miles — .2 miles short of a half marathon, an event that some people spend months training for. It was our third night sleeping in tents, second day waking up at 6:30 a.m., and we already had five miles under our belts.

I didn't expect exhaustion from my fellow marchers, but I certainly didn't expect the energy that grew stronger the longer we marched.

Multiple times the marchers at the front of the procession had to stop or slow down so the group could consolidate.

Throughout the past two days, half-hearted renditions of songs sung throughout the 1965 march would start up by a small group, but never quite catching on with the rest of the marchers.

But today when we stopped for a break, one of the marchers noticed that John Lewis posted on his Facebook, "50 years ago, as we marched from Selma, through the Alabama countryside, on our path along Highway 80 to Montgomery, we would sing songs and chant together, 'Pick 'em up and lay 'em down, all the way from Selma town.' "

We were about three miles shy of our final destination. When word of Lewis' post spread, a chant started up that robbed the guy leading it of his breath.

"Pick 'em up," he yelled, "And lay 'em down, All the way from Selma town." The crowd reciprocated with equal enthusiasm. The closer we got to our final destination, the louder they yelled.

To mirror what Addler wrote, it was apparent that, even over hilly country, our group was going at a more spirited pace than ever.